Paris a Day: #29

Today started off in the Cafe de l'Industrie, a great little cafe that plays jazz and the walls are hung with beautiful vintage nude photographs. This was our final meeting place for French. We drank coffee and gave our final presentation.

Afterward I headed back over to L'As du Fallafel for lunch. It costs about 2 euro more to eat inside than the take-out window, but with air conditioning and ice cold beverages, it was totally worth it.

The day ended with dinner at Mansouria with everyone from our classes. It was the perfect good-bye to our professors and a way to thank them for these past 4 weeks.

I have one more full day to say my good-byes to Paris.

Paris a Day: #26

The best falafel I have ever eaten... from L'As du Fallafel

Paris a Day: #13

Reportedly the best chocolate in town...

Paris a Day: #8

Today I went to the market and purchased some fresh produce and a delicious falafel wrap from a Lebanese vendor with delicious tempeh and hummous. The Market is right by Place de la Bastille, and buzzing with locals and visitors alike in search of great deals on fresh produce, cooked foods, and other various knick knacks. It was like a Farmer's Market and Flea Market all rolled into one.

After lunch and a glass of wine we made our way down to the Musée National du Moyen Âge (more commonly known as the Musée de Cluny). This museum is housed in a Medieval residence that was used as lodging for the monks of Cluny, a South Eastern region of France when they traveled North into Paris. We saw many of the original artifacts from the Notre Dame and St. Chapelle Cathedrals that have been damaged by war over the many centuries.

I also got to see the Northern Medieval masterpiece The Lady and The Unicorn tapestries. I was unable to get a photograph of this amazing work as light and temperature are greatly regulated to ensure that the integrity of the tapestries are not compromised. It was absolutely breathtaking. It is truly amazing that these were made by hand, the detail is mind blowing.

Paris a Day: #4

MACARONS!

Today a few of us went to the Jardin du Luxembourg to meet our professor at the Fountain de Medici and head to the market. Unfortunately we were waiting at the wrong fountain (despite assurances from a local that we were at the ONLY fountain in the gardens) and missed out on the trip. However, we decided to make the best of things and walked through the Luxembourg Quarter and into St. Germain de Pres. On the way we stopped at Gerard Mulot where I purchased a variety of macarons.

They are delicious! They are kind of like light, fluffy, meringue cookies with flavored ganache in the middle. They may look and sound like an Oreo, but they are just... wow.